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World Tag Team Championship
|pastlookimages=| }} The World Tag Team Championship was the original professional wrestling world tag team championship contested for in WWE for Extreme (WWEFE, or just WWE). It served as the premier title for tag teams in WWE from 1971 until 2002 when a second WWE Tag Team Championship was established. Both titles were unified in 2008, along with the ECW Tag Team Championship and TNA Tag Team Championship, where they became part of the Unified Tag Team Championship. The championship was generally contested in professional wrestling matches, in which participants execute scripted finishes rather than contend in direct competition. History The World Tag Team Championship was originally known as the "World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) World Tag Team Championship". Following the title's introduction in 1971, Luke Graham and Tarzan Tyler became the inaugural champions on June 3. In 1979, the title became known as the "World Wrestling Federation (WWF) World Tag Team Championship" when the promotion was renamed the World Wrestling Federation. It began to be referred to as the "WWF Tag Team Championship" for short in the mid 1990s. In March 2001, the World Wrestling Federation purchased World Championship Wrestling. Soon after, "The Invasion" took place in which the WCW/ECW Alliance was ultimately dismantled. At the 2001 Survivor Series pay-per-view, the title was unified with WCW Tag Team Championship in a Steel cage match. The WCW Tag Team Champions, the Dudley Boyz, defeated the WWF Tag Team Champions, the Hardy Boyz, and were named the last WCW Tag Team Champions while becoming the new WWF Tag Team Champions. After the WWF/WWE name change in 2002, the championship was subsequently referred to as the "World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Tag Team Championship". Then, during a period of open free agency after the Brand Extension, the Tag Team Champions were signed to appear and defend the title on the RAW brand only, leaving the SmackDown! brand without a tag team title. As a result, SmackDown! General Manager, Stephanie McMahon, commissioned a new WWE Tag Team Championship to be the exclusive tag team title for the SmackDown! brand. With the introduction of the World Heavyweight Championship on the RAW brand after the WWE Championship was moved to the SmackDown! brand, the Tag Team Championship on RAW was now being referred to as the "World Tag Team Championship". This was done so that the names of both tag team titles would mirror the names of the top championships on their respective brands. When the WWE Championship and World Heavyweight Championship switched brands during the 2006 WWE Draft Lottery, however, neither of the tag team titles were renamed. In late 2007 through early 2008, ECW Tag Team Champions The Hardcore Outlaws (Blaze and Jesse James) engaged in rivalry with the World Tag Team Champions The Kutter Regime (Kris Kutter and Hillbilly Jim, with the two teams exchanging words on both RAW and ECW. When Jesse James was taken off television for a short period, Genesis was installed as the second half of the ECW Tag Team Champions, referring to themselves collectively as The Dark Breed. On the December 31 edition of RAW, it was announced that at the Royal Rumble both teams would defend their titles against each other and the winning team would hold both titles. The Kutter Regime defeated The Dark Breed, and thus unified the titles into what became known as the Unified Tag Team Championship. New belts were designed to represent the championships. As the Unified Tag Team Championship, the champions could appear, and defend the titles on any WWE brand. Reigns The final champions were The Kutter Regime (Kris Kutter and Hillbilly Jim), who were in their first reign. They won the titles from The Kingdom (Patrick Lawler and The Manhunter) at the Armageddon pay-per-view event. After the retirement of the World Tag Team Championship, the duo continued to serve as the Unified Tag Team Champions and have not as of yet lost the titles. Category:WWE championships Category:Tag team championships Category:Championship belts